


Wait, Where'd He Go?

by Timewormbloom



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Anxious Katsuki Yuuri, Confident Katsuki Yuuri, Dramatic Victor Nikiforov, Gay Victor Nikiforov, Kinda, M/M, Mistaken Identity, he's confident about his skating but only about his skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:07:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23252914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timewormbloom/pseuds/Timewormbloom
Summary: Yuuri has a variation of Clark Kent syndrome and just enough social anxiety to not realize it. The other skaters wonder why Yuuri vanishes the instant he steps off the ice, and who that Japanese guy with glasses hanging around Yuuri's coach is.
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri & Yuri Plisetsky, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Victor Nikiforov & Yuri Plisetsky
Comments: 7
Kudos: 400





	Wait, Where'd He Go?

“I’m here live outside the figure skating Grand Prix Final in Sochi, speaking with four-time champion Victor Nikiforov. Tell me, Victor, how are you feeling heading into this competition?” the reporter grilled Victor as she shoved a microphone in his face. He gave her a winning smile and leaned forward.

“I’m aiming for gold medal number five, but there’s some serious competition this year that might give me a run for my money,” Victor answered with a wink. Internally, he was counting down until he could leave without seeming haughty. 

“Really? Who do you have your eye on?”

“Chris, naturally. But Yuuri Katsuki looks like he could be full of surprises. And his musicality is off the charts.”

“Katsuki? The Japanese skater? It’s his first time competing in the final, but he’s placed well in all of his qualifying events. Are you two close?”

“Actually, I haven’t really met the guy. Somehow I’ve never been able to track him down off the ice, but he seems very nice,” Victor laughed it off. The reporter got an interested, slightly predatory gleam in her eyes that Victor picked up on. “Well, I think I can hear my coach yelling at me from here.” 

“Well, I wouldn’t want to hold you up. Good luck today, we’ll be cheering you on.” The reporter clearly wanted to keep questioning, but Victor was already backing away.

The instant he got inside the venue, the smile dropped a little. He wandered around for a minute, running his hands through his hair as he got lost in thought. That little interview had gotten him thinking about his competitors, mostly about Yuuri Katsuki. It didn’t matter how many people he asked or how long he looked, he always seemed to vanish as soon as he stepped off the ice. And trying to find him beforehand was equally difficult. It’s like he just spawned on the ice and vanished once he left it.

“Victor! Start warming up!” Victor jumped as his coach’s voice boomed from down the hallway. 

“Don’t worry Yakov! I have more than enough time!” Ah, Victor could see Yakov’s forehead turning red from the other end of the hall. Probably time to actually start getting ready.

\--

Victor was locked onto his target. Katsuki Yuuri stepped off the ice with a small stuffed animal and started heading towards the kiss and cry like normal. So far, so good. Today would be the day he managed to track Yuuri down outside of the ice, he was sure of it. He just had to keep his eyes on him. 

“Has someone caught the attention of the great Victor Nikiforov?” Chris threw his arms around Victor’s shoulders and leaned in close. 

“Have you ever realized that Katsuki always seems to disappear as soon as he gets off the ice?” Victor asked his friend. He tilted his head to the side and leaned back.

“You finally noticed? I’ve been trying to track him down for years for some fun. It gets tedious, but I’d wait a hundred years to touch that butt,” Chris whistled as he glanced down at the man in question. Yuuri was leaning forward with his face scrunched up in a squint as he waited for his scores. 

“I’m hoping to finally track him down today. He’s one of my biggest competitors, it’s weird that I’ve haven’t spoken to him till now.” Victor shrugged Chris’s hand off of him as he stood up. “I’m going to wait for him in the hallway.”

“Tell me how your little rendevous goes!” Chris cheered as he batted his eyes. Victor winked back at the innuendo and sped off. 

\--

Yuuri left the kiss and cry feeling satisfied. He didn’t break any records, but it would leave him in a good position for tomorrow. He squinted at the signs posted on the wall and stepped closer. Celestino had his glasses, so he had to hope that he was in the right place. 

“Yuuri, you did good back there.” Speaking of his coach, he appeared behind Yuuri with a familiar case in hand.

“I’m feeling alright with it. I might even have a shot against Victor this year,” Yuuri replied as he slid his glasses on. Skating without them was a pain, but he didn’t have the stomach to try contacts and they’d break if he skating with them. So wandering around half-blind was his only option. 

“Speaking of Victor, do you want to try talking to him this year?” Celestino's sudden question startled Yuuri.

“Nope, nope, nope. Not happening. No. I can only face him on the ice,” he stammered in reply and shook his head for good measure. Celestino rolled his eyes, but he knew a losing fight when he started one. They’d only had this same conversation a dozen times. 

\--

Victor tried to hold himself back from sprinting. If he was even a second too late, Yuuri would disappear and he wouldn’t see him until the free skate the next day. He didn’t bother slowing down to turn a corner and nearly ran into the wall, but when he caught sight of Yuuri’s coach he ignored it. He skidded to a halt and tried to compose himself. Celestino gave him a surprised look, but Victor was focused on the man next to him. He had his back turned, but he had the right hair color, height, and was wearing the right jacket.

“Victor, is something wrong?” Celestino put a little more emphasis on Victor’s name than he needed to, but it had the intended effect. Yuuri turned around and made eye contact with Victor. His brain froze, which had the fortunate side effect of stopping him from doing anything weird.

Victor also found himself freezing as he made eye contact. He had expected Yuuri Katsuki, but there was a Japanese man he didn’t recognize next to Yuuri’s coach. He glanced around the room, but there was no one there other than the three of them.

“Sorry to disturb you, I was trying to find someone and I thought they were here,” Victor gave another smile as he back away for the second time that day. And once again, the minute he was out of sight he drooped. He had wasted one of his only chances to talk to Yuuri. He wouldn’t find him now, but he still had an opportunity after the free skate tomorrow. He nodded to himself as he made his plans. Tomorrow would definitely be the day.

\--

“Yuuri, I know you have to skate soon, but your sister’s calling me. She says it’s urgent.” Yuuri pulled out his headphones and took the phone from Celestino. 

“I still have twenty minutes before the warmup, I can make it work.” Yuuri headed towards a secluded corner with a tinge of anxiety streaking through his usual pre-competition nerves.

“Yuuri, it’s Vicchan. He’s hurt.”

\--

Yuri Plisetsky stalked down the hallway with a scowl. Katsuki had gone into the free skate with a shot at finally knocking the idiot down a peg and a spot on the podium, but he’d blown it. And he had the nerve to disappear afterward! It didn’t matter that Katsuki had a reputation for being impossible to find, Yuri had a grudge and someone was going to get yelled at. 

Something red and white flashed in the corner of his eye. For a split second, he saw a man with dark hair and a Japanese team jacket disappearing into a bathroom. Finally, it felt like he’d been searching for ages. 

By the time he got there, the other Yuri had already disappeared into a stall and shut the door. Soft sobs echoed around the bathroom, and Yuri only waited long enough to confirm that they were alone before slamming on the stall door. It was Katsuki’s fault he’d lost, and here he was sobbing about it. Pathetic. At least he had the balls to open up the door without a fuss.

But that wasn’t Katsuki. A random Japanese man was standing in front of him with tears in his eyes. Yuri’s glare lessened slightly, so now he was having a staring contest in a bathroom for no reason.

“Yes?” The man asked Yuri, and he had to fight down a flush of shame. 

“...thought you were someone else,” Yuri mumbled as he backed off.

“I’m currently going through something right now, so if you could stop banging on the walls I’d really appreciate it.” The mystery man looked like he seconds away from having some sort of breakdown, so Yuri did nothing but walk away as he shut the stall. 

He ignored Yakov’s alarmed looks when he bashed his head against the wall later out of sheer embarrassment.

\--

Victor groaned and fanned himself. Yuuri better show up soon, his dramatic introduction almost wasn’t worth dying of heatstroke in a hot spring. He’s planned this out to the second and nothing was going to stop him. Yuuri would rush in, and Victor would rise out of the bath to seduc...start their professional coaching arrangement. Luckily for Victor, and his skin, a few seconds later the door was thrown open and a man rushed in. Good, everything was going according to plan. Now it’s time to stand up and get a good look at his future boyfri...protege. 

Victor felt a pang of disappointment when he noticed that the man wasn’t Yuuri, but he was strangely familiar. Maybe he was related to Yuuri?

“Victor? What are you doing here?” Ah, he was a fan then. That made this a little more awkward since Victor was still very naked. 

“Just waiting for someone. Don’t let me get in your way!” Victor replied and tried not to let his impatience creep in. 

“Who are you waiting for?” 

“Yuuri Katsuki, do you know him?” Now that Victor thought about it, he had seen this man at Sochi the year before. He was with Yuuri’s coach, so maybe they actually knew each other. It would explain why he was at onsen Yuuri’s family owned. 

‘Wait, what?” The man seemed very confused about that, for some reason. 

‘Do you know him?”

“Yeah, technically I guess. Do you not know…?” Now he was staring at Victor with a weird look. 

At that moment the man’s glasses fogged up. He absently pulled them off to clean them, only for Victor to lunge forward and grab his face.

‘What? Yuuri? But...how?” Victor was flabbergasted as he stared at the man that was clearly Yuuri Katsuki, the man he had crossed the world to coach (and date if he got lucky). Yuuri shoved his glasses back on and suddenly became not-Yuuri. Victor reached up and pulled them off again. 

“Victor, what are you doing?” Yuuri blindly reached forward to try and get them back. Victor put them back on his face, only to raise them off again. 

“How? I could have sworn that you weren’t Yuuri a second ago.”

“I’ve been told that I look different without my glasses, but I didn’t know it was that bad,” Yuuri mumbled. “What did you need?” Victor spent another minute staring at Yuuri before his brain rebooted and he remembered why he was there.

‘Yuuri, from now on I’m going to be your coach!” Victor gave himself a pat on the back as he nailed the pose he’d been picturing in his head. Sure, the few minutes leading up to it had been a disaster, but at least he’d nailed that. 

\--

There was a large crowd gathered outside the Ice Castle, but Yuuri shrugged it off. The experience with Victor had taught him that as long as he had his glasses, people would ignore anything that might signal him out as Yuuri Katsuki. They were shouting questions about him, but he waltzed right past them into the rink’s lobby. 

He leaned against the front counter and panted as he tried to get his breath back from the jog over. It was grueling, but stuff like that was how he finally managed to get his weight back to a competitive level. 

“Hey, you. I need something,” someone barked at Yuuri. He turned around and made eye contact with the guy who had yelled at him in a bathroom at Sochi. He wasn’t yelling this time, but he was scowling and nearly growling. 

“Yes?” Yuuri shied away slightly, but he relaxed when he didn’t start yelling again.

“Where’s Victor?” the blonde teen snarled again.

“In there, what do you need from him?” 

“None of your business.” If Yuuri didn’t recognize the teen as a rinkmate of Victor and the Junior World Champion he would have been worried, but now he was just curious. He trailed behind Yuri as he stormed into the rink. 

“Victor! You idiot!” 

“That’s not a happy face! I’m guessing I forgot I promise I made,” Victor cheered as he approached the two. Yuri leaned over the railing and started a one-sided yelling match. 

“You can’t just drop everything to become a coach, even if it's Katsuki!” 

“Aww, are you a fan of Yuuri too? I didn’t expect you to come out and say it in front of him, though.” Victor interrupted Yuri’s tirade with a smile and apparently no regard for his life. 

“Great, you’re going senile now. Katsuki isn’t here, idiot,” Yuri scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Err, about that.” Yuuri drew attention to himself with a small wave of his hand. “I’m still here.”

“What are you going on about! You’re just some loser!” Well, that was a direct hit to Yuuri’s self-confidence. If he was less amused by this whole ordeal he might have been offended.

“About that.” Yuuri took that as his clue to pull his glasses off. He couldn’t see it as much as hear it, but the other Yuri reacted about as well as expected.

“What!” For good measure, Yuuri put them back on then took them off again. The Yuri-shaped blob made an odd screeching sound and turned bright red. Yuri started yelling at Victor again, and Yuuri absently wondered if the press outside could hear the yelling. That’d be an interesting article.

\--

“It’s so nice to get together like this before a competition!” Pichit whipped out his phone and started documenting the ‘momentous occasion’ on Instagram. The finalists (and Victor) had wandered into a restaurant and found themselves having dinner as a group for the first time ever. 

“Well, almost all of us. Katsuki remains as distant as ever,” Chris sighed into his drink, “I’ve been trying to get a repeat performance of the banquet for almost a year.”

“Maybe he knows he could never stand up to the king!” JJ pulled his signature pose, which was ignored by everyone but Yuri, who rolled his eyes.

“Idiots. Katsudon’s been right in front of you the entire time.” Yuri didn’t bother mentioning that he had been in their position a matter of months ago, like hell he was going to pass up on an opportunity to mock JJ. 

“Did you hit your head, short-stuff? I think I could recognize another skater if he was right in front of me.”

“Oh, really?” Yuri smirked. “Katsdon, glasses.”

“This again. You’d think people would have figured it out by now,” Yuuri sighed but complied and pulled them off. He gave them a second to react before he put them back on again to catch their reaction. 

Chris spat out his champagne, and even JJ looked appropriately surprised. Otabeck looked fairly uninterested, but Yuri had probably filled him in earlier. 

“I’ve seen you before,” Chris pondered, “You hang around Celestino a lot, I assumed you were your choreographer or something.” 

“Take that you prick!” Yuri leaned over to rub it in JJ’s face. 

“Well, it doesn’t matter! I’m going to beat you and get gold no matter what you look like! Wait, why are you all leaving?”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've done anything on Yuuri on Ice, so I'm not sure if I got the pacing and characterization right.


End file.
